Carl Rowe
I am an artist living and working in the East of England. My studio practice is based in Suffolk, and I work part-time as Senior Research Fellow at Norwich University of the Arts. I have engaged with creative and academic projects widely in the UK and in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Canada, US, Estonia, Japan, Malaysia, and Egypt. In addition to studio production, I work on public art initiatives including billboards, print portfolios and commissions. In 2018 I was invited by the charity Hospital Rooms to make work for Woodlands Mental Health Unit at Ipswich Hospital and again in 2019 for Northside House Forensic Mental Health Unit. Recent creative workshops have been devised for Hospital Rooms, HMP Norwich, Clear Channel, Norfolk and Suffolk Secure & Forensic Services and The Restoration Trust. I am a member of OUTPOST gallery and studios, East Anglia Art Fund, and the Printmakers Council, and a trustee of Norfolk Contemporary Arts Society.
I make paintings, prints, drawings, and objects. My approach to making art sways between concept and not knowing. The subjects that I question through my creative process are diverse and include pollen, eels, scaffolds, calibrations, logos, traps, donuts, and domestic objects. Real space coexists with imaginary space in an implausible graphic paradigm. Physical things are incorporated into paintings and painted surfaces evolve into concrete objects. Colour is notable, in some works naturalistic and low key, but in others it is ramped-up to a feverish vibrancy. All of this appears within seemingly non-sensical and vexing unions. There is a strong sense of duality and unseen forces at play. Some works have no discernible subject matter, others are like signs or cyphers or warnings.
Exhibitions
2024
6th International Printmaking Bienniale, Čačak, Serbia
Hospital Rooms Digital Art School, Hauser & Wirth, London
Mandell's Summer Show, Mandell's Gallery, Norwich
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
2023
Colour, Cromer Artspace, Norfolk
Holding Space, Hospital Rooms, Hauser & Wirth, London
The Assembly House Summer Open, Norwich
2022
Mandell's Gallery Winter Exhibition, Norwich
studioUS, an Original Projects exhibition at PRIMEYARC, Great Yarmouth
2021
Not Quite Aligned, (solo) Mandell's Gallery, Norwich
Northside House / Hospital Rooms, (group) EastGalleryNUA, including: Dexter Dalwood, Naomi Harwin, Jade Montserrat, Cara Nahaul, Richard Wentworth
Somewhere Unexpected: Norwich Castle Open, (group) Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
The Waiting Place, (group) The Art Station, Suffolk
Territory, (group touring) The Wright Gallery, Texas A & M University,
2020
Colour, Printmakers Council online exhibition in conjunction with Royal Overseas League, London
Unrealised, May 2020, Group exhibition in virtual gallery PSX including: Fay Nicolson, Marcia Farquhar, Henry Jackson Newcomb, Klanghaus, Sarah Cameron, Krzysztof Fijalkowski and others. Curated by Carl Rowe.
Essentials, April 2020, Group exhibition in virtual gallery PSX including: Richard Sawdon Smith, Martin Firrell, Cécile Pitois, Sarah Horton, Olivia Bax, Marcus Cope and others. Curated by Carl Rowe
2019
Hospital Rooms, Waterfront Gallery, Ipswich (with Tal Rosner, Nancy Milner, Rebecca Byrne, Nick Knight and Tim A Shaw)
Territory, (group touring) Lust and the Apple, Edinburgh (May), CLB Berlin (April)
2018
Ecstasy in Norwich, LOWER.GREEN, Norwich
State of Print, (group touring) - Norwich (November 2018), Preston (December 2018), DCA Dundee (March 2019) Cork City Hall (June 2019)
WAC 2018 - Wells Art Contemporary, Bishop's Palace, Wells, Somerset
Cracking, Biblioteca Central, Santander, Spain
9th International Printmaking Biennial, Douro, Portugal
2017
OUTPOST members' show, selected by Andy Holden
We Came Here to Conquer, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
BALLOT (touring), CIT Crawford College of Art & Design (June), Contemporary Art Museum Naples (September) Nunnsyard Gallery Norwich (October)
Rudi Dutschke, group show at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge
3rd Global Print 2017, Douro, Portugal (August 2017)
Lasting Impressions: Selected Work from the Printmakers Council Archive, Scarborough Art Gallery
2016
Constellation, group show at The Undercroft, Norwich. In collaboration with Piet Zwart Institute, Netherlands
We Came Here to Conquer II, Group print exhibition, Norwich
East/West, collaborative print portfolio (curated and published by Carl Rowe) exhibited at China Academy of Arts, Hangzhou, China.
2015
Okanagan Print Triennial, British Columbia, Canada
Hidden in Plain Sight, NUA Gallery, Norwich
2014
SAVORR XII, Norwich
Jackpot, Billboard Hoarding, Nuffield Hospital Cambridge (commissioned)
We Came Here to Conquer, Norwich Arts Centre, Group print show with Adam Bridgland, Aaron Griffin, Vicki Johnson and Tazelaar Stevenson.
Barbecue, film screening at Hyde Park Art Centre, Chicago
2013
Synasthesia 3 // A Banquest for Ultra Bankruptcy, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2012
Print Odyssey, Stew Gallery, Norwich
Neo:Print Prize, Neo: Gallery, Bolton
2011
3rd Sheffield International Artist's Book Prize, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield
For Love not Money, The 15th Tallinn Print Triennial, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn
KIWA 2011, Kyoto International Woodprint Association, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto
2010
Global Studio, Bluecoat, Liverpool
Pipe 10, Penang International Print Exhibition, Penang Museum and Art Gallery, Malaysia
2009
Recipe Cards, street performance, In association with Asaguya College of Art and Design and Norwich University College of the Arts, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
2008
Tempura, video, Aurora, International film festival, Norwich
Kunstwerk Bazaar, Outpost members show selected by Andrew Hunt, Outpost Gallery, Norwich
2006
Cyclone, Installation with light boxes and screenprinted floor, Hat Factory, Luton
2005
Dislocation, two-person show, Visions Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Commissions, Installations, Performance and Public Works
2021
BE, Hospital Rooms commission for Northside House, Forensic mental health unit, Norwich. https://hospital-rooms.com/northside-house
2018
Have Strength Find Peace, Hospital Rooms commission for Woodlands mental health unit at Ipswich Hospital, https://hospital-rooms.com
?2014
Jackpot, editioned print for Nuffield Hospital Cambridge (commissioned) in connection with billboard public art project.
2009
Recipe Cards, street performance, In association with Asaguya College of Art and Design and Norwich University College of the Arts, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
2007
Artwork/installation for Neutrinos video “one way kiss”, edited by Dan Tombs
2006
Hayvend multiple, edition of 100 artworks for vending machines http://www.hayvend.com
209 shorts, 209 Radio Cambridge, http://www.209radio.co.uk
2005
Future FM Radio, http://www.futurefmradio.co.uk/
Web work to coincide with Dislocation, Tokyo.
2003
Virgin CD Gallery. Exhibition of multiples in CD boxes, Virgin Megastore, Norwich.
Talk Portfolio of prints published through Norwich School of Art and Design.
2002
Postcards from the Coast Lowtide 2002. International ecology awareness event.
Currency Portfolio of prints published through Norwich School of Art and Design
2000
Splash Zone, installation, Coastal Currents Festival, Hastings.
Lowtide 2000, Beach project, Hastings.
Published Work
2013
12, portfolio of prints by staff and students from Norwich University of the Arts, Published at IMPACT 8: Borders and Crossings: The Artist as Explorer International Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking Conference 2013
2009
8 Ways to Cook the Books, 20 page artist’s book published in an edition of 50. Launched at Impact 6, Bristol and available from http://www.carlrowe.co.uk
Market, collaborative portfolio of prints by staff and students from Norwich University College of the Arts and Boston University, USA. Edited by Carl Rowe and Professor Deborah Cornell.
8 Ways to Cook the Books: Art, Food and Politics. Paper delivered at Impact Conference, Bristol, September 2009.
2007
Evolution, collaborative portfolio of prints by staff and students from Norwich School of Art & Design, California State University, USA and Asagaya College of Art & Design, Tokyo. Conceived and edited by Carl Rowe.
2005
Context, (printed multiple) published by Original Projects at Outpost Gallery, Norwich. Exhibited at ‘Publish and be Damned’.
2003
Nursing the Artist in the UK, essay in catalogue for Robin Blackledge's residency and commission for Norfolk & Norwich NHS University Hospital.
Published Academic Papers
2013
EASTprint IMPACT 8: Borders and Crossings: The Artist as Explorer International Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking Conference 2013
A Banquet for Ultra Bankruptcy: Desire*Flow*Inhibit, Essay and text written to accompany the performance and installation at the Arts Laboratory Berlin March 2013 http://www.artlaboratory-berlin.org/
2011
8 Ways to Cook the Books: Art Politics and Food, Paper written for Impact 7 International Printmaking Conference September 2011 http://impact7.org.au/
Reviews and Catalogues
2011
Kaljula, L., For Love Not Money p353 ISBN 978-9949-21-547-8, Tallinn, 2011
2010
Rahman, A M., Pipe 10 p76 ISBN 978-983-42376-4-6, Malaysia, 2010
Griffin, J,. Global Studio http://www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/626390
2004
Chetcuti, M., Salthouse 04 Crossing The line, Norwich 2004
Leeming, C., Domestic Haz-Chem a-n 2004 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/article/133837
Qualifications
BA Honours Fine Art Manchester Polytechnic 1984
MA Fine Art Manchester Polytechnic 1985
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK
Employment
Norwich University of the Arts. http://www.nua.ac.uk
Memberships
Norwich Outpost Gallery. Artist member http://www.norwichoutpost.org/
Axis web. Artist member http://www.axisweb.org/
Printmakers Council
Bloc Projects